A day after veteran Congress leaders N.K.P. Salve and Vasant Sathe quit the party over the Vidarbha statehood issue, the party today attempted rapprochement with them.Under instructions from the man-in-charge of the state unit, Vayalar Ravi, Maharashtra Pradesh Congress Committee chief Ranjit Deshmukh and District Guardian Minister Satish Chaturvedi met Salve to urge him to reconsider the decision and give the party time to think over their demands.Sathe and Salve floated the Vidarbha Rajya Nirman Congress yesterday to promote the cause of a separate Vidarbha state. Salve, who appeared to be in no mood to revert from his position, said he had told the MPCC chief that the demand for a separate state of Vidarbha was non-negotiable.‘‘I told them the Congress has to take a decision before September 2 when we launch our party. Ravi called up urging me to wait till November. We are not ready to wait till then. And Sonia Gandhi has to concede the Vidarbha statehood demand. We won’t accept it from anyone else’s mouth,’’ Salve said. He quoted Ravi as saying that Sonia had never said ‘‘no’’ to the demand for a separate state. ‘‘I asked him to ask Manmohan Singh and Pranab Mukherjee if Madam said so or not,’’ he said.Deshmukh later told mediapersons that the proposals emerging from the discussion with Salve would soon be presented before the high command. ‘‘Salve has given us time up to August 30,’’ he added. ‘‘We urged him to put forth his demands on the party’s forum,’’ Deshmukh said. Asked if Sonia has rejected the idea of a Vidarbha state as claimed by Salve, Deshmukh said there’s some confusion about it and that it would be cleared after his discussions with Chief Minister Sushilkumar Shinde and Ravi.The two leaders said they would convey the feelings of the local workers on the statehood issue to the party leaders.
